6 BULLETIN 824, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
industry. The following information as to its cultivation there was 
furnished by George N. West, American consul at Kobe, under date 
of March 22, 1915: 
The species of Pyrethrum cultivated in Japan for the manufacture of insect 
powder is Chrysanthemum cinerarizfolium (white flower, commonly called “ Dal- 
matia’’). The C. rosewm (red flower, commonly called ‘“Persia’’) is also 
cultivated to a small extent, not only for the same purpose, but for the beauty 
of its charming flowers. : 
None of the species of Pyrethrum are natives of Japan, but have been intro- 
duced from foreign countries. As to their introduction, it is hard to say exactly, 
but the following are some of the most reliable traditions: 
1. During the year 1881, insect powder was first imported by one Tasaburo 
Shimidzu of Osaka from Bays (?) & Co., of England, through Morff & Co. of 
Kobe. 
2. Between the years 1884 and 1885 the seeds were imported from Dalmatia 
and cultivated by Ei-ichiro Murakami of Yasudamura, Arita County, Wakayama 
Prefecture. 
3. When Georg Hicotrust (?) was a consul for Austria in Japan, he at one time 
visited Nikko with a view of admiring the natural beauty of the place. It was 
autumn and the chrysanthemum flowers were blooming profusely along the sides 
of the road. He thought they looked like the chrysanthemum of his native 
country which was used for killing insects, and was surprised to see such a plant 
growing wild in Japan. He then imported from Austria a small quantity of the 
seeds which were sent to Wakayama in 1886. 
4. While Professor Tamari, present director of Kagoshima Higher Agricultural 
and Dendrological School, was a student in the United States, he sent some seeds 
from the California Agricultural School and the California Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station to Komaba (near Tokyo) Agricultural College. The seeds were 
planted there, and were thence distributed to every part of Japan. 
The plants are chiefly cultivated in the prefectures of Wakayama, Aichi, 
Okayama, and Hiroshima, of which the plantations in Wakayama Prefecture 
are most progressive. Hence the following method of plantation is principally 
taken from that of this prefecture: 
The seed time is twice a year—spring and autumn. When the seeds are sown 
in the spring the flower does not open in the same year, and therefore in warm 
districts autumn planting is considered best. Generally in the latter part of 
September or October a cold bed is prepared, and one-half gill of the best selected 
seeds, mixed with ashes of wood or fine sand, are sowed on each tsubo (about 4 
square yards), covering the whole surface slightly with well-sieved fine earth or 
sand. ‘Then the surface is pressed with boards and covered with straw or rice 
hulls, in order to keep the earth from becoming too dry. About 10 days later, 
when germinated, the straw or hulls are taken off. The seedlings are then thinned 
out 2 or 3 times, according to thickness, in order to make the intervals between 
them from 11% to 214 inches. Five or six weeks after budding, when the seed- 
lings have grown to a height of over 1 inch, a temporary nursery is prepared, 
and the strong seedlings are planted at intervals of 444 to 514 inches and the weak 
ones at intervals of 244 to 4inches. The following spring they are transplanted 
to a ridge 2 or 24% feet high, in a dry rice field, and to a ridge of 2 feet or of ordi- 
nary height in a vegetable field. The intervals between the seedlings when trans- 
planted should be 1 foot to 1 foot 3 inches. The fertilizers usually applied are 
1,560 pounds of natural forest loam, 40 pounds of superphosphate of lime, 80 
pounds of straw ashes, and 2,500 pounds of human excrement and urine for each 
quarter acre. There are no special methods for plowing, weeding, and irrigation. 
The plaats are propagated not only by seedlings, as just explained, but also by 
dividing the roots of the plants and transplanting them. After 4 or 5 years the 
plants become too old, and will not bear many flowers, making it necessary to 
divide their roots or to sow new seeds. 
Sticky or clayey soil should be avoided. Sandy soil is preferable, because the 
water drains freely. The slope of a hill or reclaimed land may also be used when 
care is taken and it is fertilized well. No analysis of the soil is obtainable. 
While in the nursery, a solution of sulphate of ammonia in water is applied, in 
addition to the fertilizers already mentioned. After transplanting in the spring, 
the same solution is applied. ‘The superphosphate of lime is also widely used. 
No manganese salt is applied as fertilizer, but most of the soil in Japan contains 
a small quantity of manganese. 
The flowers are generally harvested during the latter part of May or in June, 
during which period they are picked over four or five times. When harvested 
a 
